


The Fourth Mrs. Rossi

by RebaK1tten



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 19:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1316023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebaK1tten/pseuds/RebaK1tten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mama Rossi heaves a sigh. “You know I’ve heard that before. Three times in fact. I did like his first wife, but two and three, I don’t know why he bothered.” She gets up and fusses unnecessarily with his tie, before she steps back and smiles at him. “You, I like. You’re patient, but don’t take David’s crap. You sure you want to do this? Rossi men are …” Mama shakes her head and sighs dramatically.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fourth Mrs. Rossi

“You know, if you’re having second thoughts, that’s okay. Everyone would understand and no one would judge you.”

Spencer smiles to himself and unsuccessfully tries to control an errant piece of hair by tucking it under another. “I know, Mama.  But I want to marry Dave.”

Mama Rossi heaves a sigh. “You know I’ve heard that before. Three times in fact. I did like his first wife, but two and three, I don’t know why he bothered.” She gets up and fusses unnecessarily with his tie, before she steps back and smiles at him. “You, I like. You’re patient, but don’t take David’s crap. You sure you want to do this? Rossi men are …” Mama shakes her head and sighs dramatically.

“I don’t know about all Rossi men, but Dave’s pretty great. He’s very good to me and I’ve never been happier.” Spencer smiles shyly at his future mother-in-law and takes one of her hands. “Thanks for being here for us; I’m sure this is a little awkward for you.”

She leans forward and kisses his cheek. “Eh, so he’s marrying a man this time. David’s already had three divorces, I’ll just be happy to have you stick around.” She picks up a glass of wine off the dressing table and looks around the room. “So neither of you have brides maids or attendants or anything like that?”

“Well, neither of us are brides, so no. And as Dave’s pointed out, his brothers did groomsmen duties already a few times.” Spencer looks longingly at the wine bottle, and down at his spotless tux. “And since our closest friends are mutual friends, it didn’t seem right to try to ‘assign’ them to one or the other of us. So no attendants, just guests.”

Dave’s sister, Rosa, pokes her head into the dressing room. “You guys okay? Do you need anything, Spencer?”  Like most of Dave’s female relatives, she can’t resist grabbing his face and giving him a big kiss. “You look wonderful. Dave hasn’t seen you all dressed up, has he?”

“No!” says Mama Rossi vehemently. “That’s bad luck, no seeing the spouse before the wedding.” She beams at the two of them, and Spencer’s sure it’s because she avoided calling him a bride again.

“A lot of that tradition is from arranged marriages; the couple didn’t see each other before the wedding in case they decided their intended was unattractive and they wanted to change their minds. So they were kept apart.”

“Still. You should both wait to see each other at the altar.” Mama Rossi says, pouring a bit more wine and getting ready to settle into an arm chair.

“Mama,” Spencer says, “could you please go and check on Dave? Just make sure that he’s got whatever he needs?”  

“Oh sure, honey, but he’s fine, you know. He’s done this before.”  She smiles at Spencer and kisses his cheeks again before she takes her wine glass and bustles out of the room.

Rosa pours her own glass of wine and pours a glass for Spencer, handing it to him carefully.  “You must be exhausted already. You sure you want to do this, hon?”

Spencer takes a cautious sip and smiles at his future sister-in-law. “I was ready to marry Dave a while ago, I was just waiting for him to be ready.”

“How about this family? You ready for the circus?” Rosa asks, grinning wickedly.

“Well, your family can be a bit overwhelming. But in general, everyone has been pretty nice. And I’m going with the fact that everyone adores Dave and as long as I’m in his good graces, I’ll be okay.”

There’s a knock on the door and Spencer hears a familiar voice call out, “Knock, knock!”

“Emily!” He throws open the door and hugs her hard. “You look wonderful, and I’m so glad you could come! Come in, have you seen everyone yet? Does Dave know you’re here?”

“Hey, let me take a breath, Spencer. First, you look great, too, very much wedding day handsome. I haven’t seen anyone yet, I just got in last night. And you’re the first person I looked for this morning.” Emily notices the other woman in the room and steps forward with her hand out. “Emily Prentiss. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’re Dave’s sister?”

“That’s me, Rosa. Dave’s my baby brother,” Rosa says, shaking hands. “So, are you a work person or an ex-girlfriend?”

Emily’s eyes go wide and she steps back. “Work person. We worked at the BAU together until last year.” She turns to Spencer and asks, “Seriously? Dave invited ex-girlfriends?”

Spencer smiles and replies, “Sure, he actually has a couple he stayed friends with. And one of my exes is here, too. Of course Dave also has an ex-brother-in-law from wife number one and an ex-sister-in-law from wife number three. Wife number two is best not mentioned.”

“Yeah, she was a disaster, total rebound.” Rosa shakes her head and refills their glasses, pouring a glass for Emily. “We really do love Spencer because…well, he’s lovable and smart and he’s good for Dave, but I gotta say the bar was set pretty low.” She smiles at him and kisses his cheek, rubbing off most of the lipstick mark. “You know we love you, right? You’re our family now, or you will officially be in about 45 minutes.” She smiles and checks her watch. “Hey, I’m going to run out and make sure there’s not too much fighting out there, at least not yet. You know that Uncle Joseph will get really drunk, and pick a fight with someone, right?”

“Yeah, Dave told me. Apparently he has a son who is supposed to keep an eye on him, but tends to wander off looking for single women?”

“It becomes a group effort, yeah. Anyway, see you in a few minutes by the priest, right?” Rosa kisses his cheek again and scurries out of the room.

Emily gently tugs Spencer down on a sofa next to her and hands him his glass. “Sit, Spencer. So, you nervous?”

“No, I’m fine. Please don’t tell me that you’re going to ask me if I’m sure or remind me that I can still get out of this,” he says, trying to sound stern.

She snorts and takes a sip of wine. “Of course not. You two are great together. I just meant nervous about the big church service. This is the part that kind of surprises me, I would have expected you to elope or have a little civil service somewhere, not a big production. Hey, are either of you changing your names?”

“We talked about it, but decided not to. We’re both published and known by our names - Dave obviously much more than me – and it just seems like too much of a hassle. And I wasn’t going to hyphenate unless he would as well.” Spencer checks his watch again and finds a safe spot to put down his glass.  

“Good for you, not just caving and becoming the fourth Mrs. Rossi,” Emily says, taking his free hand.

“Goddammit!” Spencer grabs the glass of wine and quickly downs the remainder. “We agreed to a drinking game, that whoever heard the ‘fourth Mrs. Rossi’ comment had to drink. I know Dave’s been hit a few times this week. Most people – most people, Emily – don’t say that to me, even without drinking involved.”

Emily watches Spencer flop down in a chair across the room and then pop right back up. “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, it’ll never happen again. Seems like something that you don’t want all the Rossis to know. So, did you guys have a bachelor party? Or two parties? Or is that a dangerous question, too?”

“Cute, Emily,” he says and checks the mirror for the hundredth time. “Night before last, Dave, Hotch, Morgan and Dave’s two brothers went to Atlantic City for a night of gambling and drinking.”

“You didn’t go?”

“No, they wanted a chance to win. And I wanted a peaceful evening.” Spencer settles back on the sofa next to her and leans back, chewing on his lip. “I stayed over with JJ, Henry and Will. We had Jack as well. We watched cartoons, played Sorry, made cookies and drank Hurricanes. Not Jack and Henry for the Hurricanes, of course. JJ and Will both said that being married is different. They’ve been together for a long time, but being married feels different, more real somehow.”

Emily shrugs.  “Maybe. Heck, I sure don’t know. That sound okay to you?”

“Of course.” Spencer says quickly, smiling back at her. “I just can’t imagine how it could feel more real than what we have now. I don’t think I could love him any more than I do now. Actually, it’s a little scary.

Emily pulls him into a hug and he relaxes after a second. “Of course you love him and yeah, it’s real scary. Why do you think I avoid it?” She lets him go and kisses his forehead, which makes him grin. “You must love him, you agreed to the whole wedding-in-a-church thing. For a non-traditional kind of guy, this whole thing is pretty darned traditional.”

“Yeah, well, it’s important to Dave, so…” he shrugs and looks around the room. “I got my way on most of it, which Dave was okay with. I explained the whole bridesmaids thing and giving away the bride like property.  Although Dave’s family keeps trying to push me into doing bride things.” He shakes his head and gives a small snort. “Dave’s brother asked if Hotch or Morgan was going to walk me down the aisle. Luckily Dave heard and pulled me away. I may be over-reacting about things lately, or so he tells me.”

“I think you made the right choice walking on your own, although you know Morgan would love to do that. Garcia said you’re both just coming out of side doors and meeting at the altar?” Emily asks and pours another glass of wine. There’s a small tray of crackers on a table and she picks up a couple to nibble on. “But you guys are exchanging rings, right? The bands you already have or an additional one?”

“Guess, Emily. It’s Dave, so of course he wanted more. They’re nice and even with two bands, not too wide. Although he had to throw in a couple of diamonds, but they’re flat in the setting, so I guess not really gaudy.” He grins and shrugs. “But then again, I’m marrying Dave, so I’ve kind of given up subtlety in my life.”

“As far as a wedding ceremony goes, that’s what we’re counting on. ‘Kay, I’m gonna go and check on everyone and let you finish whatever you have to finish,” she says, kissing his head again. She puts a gentle hand on his cheek and says, “Your mom would have been very proud of you today. You look gorgeous, like a model.”

Spencer blushes and turns away. “Thanks. She would have hated Dave, of course. Not because he’s a man or anything, but she always thought I should be with a teacher or a poet or something. Certainly not a government agent.”

“Maybe, but she couldn’t find anyone who loves you more,” Emily says and kisses his cheek again. “You’re going to be covered with lipstick by the end of the day, you know?” She rubs her latest kiss off his cheek.

“I’m used to it, the Rossis are all kissers.” He checks himself in the mirror and rubs off a bit more that she missed. “Go say hi to everyone, I think we’re starting in a few minutes.”

Spencer hears Emily greeting people in the hallway and then hears his favorite voice saying, “Hey. You decent?”

“Sorry, yes, I am. Come on in, Dave,” Spencer moves to him and they stand holding each other for a peaceful minute. “This is the last quiet time we’ll have all day, isn’t it?”

“Yup. The circus is about to begin. Sorry, Kitten and thanks for being so good about this,” Dave murmurs into Spencer’s neck.

“Don’t worry. I just want what’s at the end of all this.” Spencer leans his head back so Dave can kiss a little lower on his neck. “I told you I’d marry you in a church or city hall or in a box or with a fox.  I’m not sure how you managed to get into a Catholic church with a priest to perform a gay marriage for an atheist, though.”

“You know me, I know people. He’s happy for both of us, crazy guy thinks that’s important in the grand scheme of things. Actually, the atheist part was a little more challenging than the gay part.” Dave steps back and straightens up Spencer’s shirt and tie. “You already have multiple lipstick stains on your cheek. You going to be able to take ‘forsaking all others and till death do us part?’”

“I’ve been on that for the last couple of years, David. Since we moved in together and even before that. I told you, I decided you’re the one, you needed to figure that out, too.” He smoothes Dave’s hair and wipes a smudge of lipstick off his cheek. “You good with just me for the rest of your life? Cause I don’t do divorce, Dave. Seriously.”

“I know and believe me, you’re the last one for me. You’ll have to kill me to get rid of me.” Dave kisses him and they both look up when they hear music starting in the church. “That’s us, Kitten. Come on, let’s go show everyone how to get married.”

 

 


End file.
